Page 74 of Rebellion

She choked on a sob.

You can’t let everything go.

It’s not safe.

But she couldn’t seem to control herself. She scrubbed at her skin relentlessly as she sat there. She washed herself until she was red. Until her skin stung.

And it still wasn’t enough.

A sob escaped her despite her best efforts to hold it back.

When would enough be enough?

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

In the back of her brain, she knew that this wasn’t healthy. That she had to stop.

But she couldn’t seem to make herself do it.

She could feel his touch. And not just from tonight. It was months of him touching her. In the beginning, he hadn’t touched her at all.

But he’d flayed her with his words.

He’d stomped on her, day by day, wearing her down until she’d learned how to block him. But the damage was done. She’d become a shell of the woman she’d used to be.

And she now understood that had been his plan all along.

Smart. Devious.

Wear her down to nothing.

Until she wouldn’t, couldn’t, fight back.

That’s when he’d gotten abusive. Grabbing her too tightly, pulling her hair, pushing her around. Then he’d hit her in the torso. A punishment for something. A way to keep her down.

But it hadn’t had a sexual feel to it until lately.

Then tonight.

Oh, God.

Don’t be sick.

He’s dead.

Except... she hadn’t actually checked that he was.

Oh God.

What if he was still alive? What if he spilled her last secret?

Her breathing grew sharp. Her skin stung, her back ached, and her mind was splintering.

She had to find out whether he was dead.

Idiot!

But when she tried to get up, her back seized, making her cry out.

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